ZGBriefs | September 1, 2016

ZGBriefs is a compilation of news items gathered from published online sources. ChinaSource is not responsible for the content, and inclusion in ZGBriefs does not equal endorsement. Please go here to support ZGBriefs.

Featured Article

China: When the Cats Rule (August 26, 2016, New York Review of Books)
But it’s in Cat Country that Lao She stretches himself the furthest, producing one of the most remarkable, perplexing, and prophetic novels of modern China. On one level it is a work of science fiction—a visit to a country of cat-like people on Mars—that lampoons 1930s China. On a deeper level, the work predicts the terror and violence of the early Communist era and the chaos and brutality that led to Lao She’s death at the Lake of Great Peace. Cat Country is often called a dystopian novel, but when Lao She took his own life, it was an uncannily accurate portrait of the reality around him.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Convergent Control (August 25, 2016, China Media Project)
At a meeting in Beijing last week, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s umbrella agency for internet regulation and control and related security matters, called together more than 60 representatives from state-run websites and commercial internet portals to hammer home, yet again, a tough message on information controls.

Trudeau's challenge in China: forging closer ties while remaining wary (August 29, 2016, The Guardian)
Justin Trudeau will need to walk a thin line as he seeks to reset Canada’s relationship with China while balancing human rights concerns – and a domestic audience wary of the Asian power.

American Is Facing Spy Trial in China, and Husband Seeks Obama’s Help (August 30, 2016, The New York Times)
The businesswoman, Phan Phan-Gillis, widely known as Sandy, was indicted last month on the espionage charges after having been detained while visiting China last year.

Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan hit by suspected suicide car bomb (August 30, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
A suspected suicide car bomber rammed the gates of the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Tuesday, killing the attacker and wounding at least three other people, officials said. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the car exploded inside the compound and quoted Deputy Prime Minister Janysh Razakov as describing the blast as "a terrorist act."

Zhang Kai Says Criticism of Lawyers Was Coerced (August 30, 2016, China Digital Times)
He also was interviewed by Phoenix Television after the trial of fellow rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng in August, when he expressed support for the government’s round-up of lawyers over the summer of 2015, known as the “709” (for July 9, the date it was launched) or “Black Friday” crackdown. Zhang has now disavowed the interview and says it was made under duress:

Constitutional Hostility (August 31, 2016, China Media Project)
Three long years ago, liberals and human rights advocates in China took heart from the idea that basic rights such as freedom of speech might be secured by fighting for the legal application of their country’s constitution. […]  Today, these constitutional hopes are being turned on their head by the serious application of more ideologically extreme language contained in this “fundamental law of the state,” first adopted on December 4, 1982.

Blue skies and police vans: China prepares to host its first G20 summit (August 31, 2016, CNN)
Factories are shuttered, skies are clear and security is tight. Local residents have been given seven days extra vacation time and discounted tours to destinations outside the city to ensure Hangzhou is free of crowds and traffic. Meanwhile, thousands of migrant workers have left the city due to the halt in their work lives and the growing inconvenience caused by G20 preparation measures.

Religion

Krishna’s Popularity Rising in China (August 29, 2016, Hindustan Times)
The cult of Krishna is growing in officially atheist China. Numbers are difficult to compile and often anecdotal in nature, but the philosophy of love and devotion as symbolised by Krishna, one of Hinduism’s popular deities, is evidently attracting many Chinese in urban areas. Last week, a large number of devotees celebrated Krishna Janmashtami, the day that marks his birth, across China in big and small groups, at yoga centres and among family members. 

Some Catholics are deeply disturbed that the Vatican is cozying up to China’s repressive regime (August 25, 2016, Quartz)
Father Alexander Lucie-Smith, a parish priest in southwest England and contributing editor to the London-based Catholic Herald, compared the potential rapprochement to the Church’s attempt to reconcile with the eastern bloc governments during the Cold War—but emphasized that China’s Communist Party government is a far worse adversary.

Vatican says it has high hopes of better ties with China (August 27, 2016, Reuters)
The Vatican is hopeful it can improve ties with China after decades of tension, the Roman Catholic Church's highest-ranking diplomat said on Saturday, adding that warmer relations would benefit the whole world.

Is Confucianism a Religion or an Ethical System? The Debate Goes On (August 29, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
At root was the question of whether or not Confucianism was a religion or merely an ethical system. Fast forward to today, and we see evidence that the debate goes on.

A Century-Old Church in Xingtai (August 30, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
In June China Christian Daily posted an article and photo gallery of 113-year-old church in Xingtai, Hebei Province. Originally built by Presbyterian missionaries from the US, it is now one of the main churches of the city.

Urbanization and the Church: East and West (August 31, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
As China has urbanized the challenges facing the church increasingly mirror those in other urban societies.

Society / Life

A happy ending for an Australian ultramarathoner and Chinese stray dog (August 25, 2016, NPR)
As Dion Leonard raced last March, a little brown dog started following him for miles across the Gobi Desert. The two quickly fell for each other and he named her Gobi. "When she came into camp she followed me straight into my tent, laid down next to me and that was that – a bond had been developed," Leonard said in a blog post from the race.

The Wrong Approach to Living in China (August 26, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
I love living in China and have immersed myself in Chinese culture. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go since I arrived here in 1991—many who approach China with negative attitudes and misconceptions.

China wants to stop domestic violence. But the legal system treats it as a lesser crime. (August 27, 2016, The Washington Post)
In China, domestic violence has long been ignored by the legal system. In fact, Li’s family was so certain her death would be brushed aside that, after her murder, they refused to bury her body, keeping her corpse aboveground in a desperate bid to shame the state to act.

Collage: China’s Week in Photos, August 22 – August 28 (August 28, 2016, Sixth Tone)
A selection of the week’s best photos by Sixth Tone’s visual editors.

In Shanghai, Couples Rush to Divorce to Buy Property Later (August 29, 2016, China Real Time)
Spouses were scrambling to cut ties, at least on paper, amid rumors that the city might soon shut a loophole that families often use to buy more property: divorce. The surge is a response to concerns about rising property prices and government efforts to slow the increase.

Police snare 'China's Jack the Ripper' after 28-year search for killer – reports (August 29, 2016, The Guardian)
Police believe they have captured a serial killer dubbed China’s “Jack the Ripper” for the way he mutilated several of his 11 female victims, state-run media have reported, nearly three decades after the first murder. Gao Chengyong, 52, was detained at the grocery store he runs with his wife in Baiyin, in the north-west province of Gansu, the China Daily said.

Your driving doesn’t scare me and other lessons from China (August 29, 2016, The Messy Middle)
All that aside, if you are in the Denver area and have a child who needs to learn to drive, let me know. Riding with burgeoning drivers is a trip down memory lane. It is a way to visit China without needing a visa. It is a way to use experiences I never thought would transfer to America. It is a way to be me in unexpected ways. Truly, give me a call.

China Breaks Into Song Over the G-20 (August 31 2016, China Real Time)
A gathering of gravely suited global leaders doesn’t usually make one want to burst out into song. But this is China, and as the country prepares to host the Group of 20 economic-summit meeting this weekend in the eastern city of Hangzhou, it has been pulling out all the musical stops.

Why Is China So Obsessed With a Celebrity Divorce? (August 31, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
The recent divorce of Chinese film star Wang Baoqiang (王宝强) has already become China’s biggest scandal of 2016. With over 10 billion views, it is one of the most-read topics Weibo has ever seen. Why is China so obsessed with a celebrity divorce?

Campus anti-sex attacker map becomes online hit (August 31, 2016, People’s Daily)
Kang Chenwei, a junior student at Beijing Normal University, has drawn a map by hand and posted it on his WeChat account. It's not to show the location of the library, or canteen. This map outlines the places where female students should look out for potential attackers.

Photos: Left-behind children back to hometown after spending summer with family (August 31, 2016 China Daily)
As the summer vacation comes to an end, many schoolchildren who are left behind by their migrant parents are on their way back to hometowns before the new semester starts on Sept 1, 2016. The children were brought by their parents in late June or early July from hometowns to the big cities where they are working to spend the vacation as part of family reunion.

Gender Inequality in China: A Conversation with Leta Hong Fincher (August 31, 2016, CSIS Sound Cloud)
In this episode, we welcome award-winning journalist and author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, as we discuss the challenges facing women today in China.

Economics / Trade / Business

China Compliance: A Basic Checklist (August 28, 2016, China Law Blog)
With the last quarter of the year approaching and China increasing its scrutiny of foreign businesses operating in China, now seems like the right time to talk about what such businesses (WFOEs, joint ventures, representative offices) should be doing to protect themselves on the compliance front.

The Terrible Amusement Park That Explains Chongqing’s Economic Miracle (August 29, 2016, Foreign Policy)
With China's cities drowning in debt, one megalopolis is getting its books in order by selling off trained dolphins, Australian iron ore, and life insurance companies

When Your China Employee Leaves, Part 2: A Case Study (August 29, 2016, China Law Blog)
Truth be told though, the real reason we are such sticklers for having the right employment contract and Rules and Regulations and right termination actions is not so much so that our China clients can get sued and win, but so that they never get sued at all.

Translate Your Contract For China? The Answer is No. (August 30, 2016, China Law Blog)
Contracts that work for the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, etc., simply do not work for China and putting those contracts into Chinese won’t change that. […]  Translating contracts into Chinese does not make them valid China law contracts, it just doesn’t.

Education

Hunan Preschool Teachers Protest for Pensions (August 26, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Dozens of nearly retired teachers protested Wednesday in front of the provincial education department in Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province. Employed without contracts for decades, they demand to be officially recognized so they can receive pensions.

Why China Needs to Reform Its Global History Education (August 29, 2016, Sixth Tone)
During the two weeks of the Rio Olympics, Chinese media overflowed with stories about Brazil. But as the exoticism of the jungle-covered country mingled with the excitement of the international competition, many Chinese realized how little they actually knew about Brazil.

Investing in China’s Education Industry – Part 2 (August 30, 2016, China Briefing)
Though education is a burgeoning industry in China, the sector faces acute government scrutiny and a complex regulatory environment. In this article, we outline the set-up procedures for various types of educational institutions in China.

Health / Environment

China’s Glaciers In Hot Water (August 28, 2016, The World of Chinese)
China isn’t the first country that comes to mind when one thinks of glaciers—and it might never be. From the Tomur glacier in Xinjiang and the Meili Snow Mountain in Yunnan to the Hailuogou glacier in Sichuan and the Rongbuk glacier in Tibet, there are more than 51,000 square kilometers of glaciers left in China, and they are retreating at alarming rates.

Chinese Women Head Overseas to Freeze Their Eggs (August 30, 2016, The New York Times)
China prohibits fertility treatments for unmarried women, so she underwent the procedure in California, joining the growing number of single Chinese women going abroad to have their eggs frozen as a way to preserve an option and control the pace of their lives.

Science / Technology

Losing Steam In Smartphones, Chinese Firm Turns To Smart Rice Cookers (August 26, 2016, NPR)
Xiaomi is trying to rethink appliances, to make them inexpensive, sleekly designed, equipped with sensors to collect data, connected to the Internet and controllable with a smartphone.

China: the new space superpower (August 28, 2016, The Guardian)
For years, its space programme was shrouded in secrecy. Now, with plans for lunar and Mars missions, and crowds at its launch sites, China is ready for liftoff

History / Culture

Great leap forward at the traffic lights in China – archive (August 25, 2016, The Guardian)
25 August 1966: Revolutionary Chinese Guards say red is the colour of revolution and should be the new green light.

Anyone Seen The Son Of Heaven? (August 25, 2016, The World of Chinese)
How do you lose an emperor? I mean, it’s not like you would confuse the Son of Heaven with somebody’s wayward schnauzer. And yet the Ming Empire, no stranger to bizarre successions and eccentric rulers, somehow managed to misplace their monarch for nearly a year.

A large collection: Everyday life in Beijing in winter 1956-1957 (August 29, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

Arts / Entertainment / Media

TV Show Spotlights Middle Class Anxieties in China (August 25, 2016, China Real Time)
A hit Chinese TV drama that tells the story of three families who sent their young teens to study abroad has surfaced middle-class doubts about their future in the country.

Guangdong Through the Lens of an Architectural Photographer (August 27, 2016, PetaPixel)
Russian photographer Ekaterina Busygina has published a beautiful set of photos from her travels to the province of Guangdong, China. It’s a look at how ultra-modern cities are rising from an ancient province, as seen through the eyes of an architectural photographer.

Is China's Movie Boom Doomed? (August 30, 2016, Bloomberg)
One immediate cause for the bust is that film authorities are attempting to crack down on falsified box-office data. The practice is longstanding: Distributors buy up millions of dollars' worth of tickets for their own movies, give sales figures an artificial boost and create some buzz.

Despite Recent Tensions, Chinese Olympians Welcomed in Hong Kong (August 30, 2016, China Real Time)
Despite recent political tensions, Chinese Olympians got a warm reception in Hong Kong over the weekend, where some of the Rio medalists showed off their sporting skills in front of local fans.

Chinese 3D Street Artist Qi Xinghua Brings Concrete to Life : “A City Needs Its Tattoos” (August 30, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
Chinese 3D artist Qi Xinghua (齐兴华) uses his skills to turn bleak walls in Chinese cities into stunning works of art – he brings concrete to life. But his street art often does not last, as Qi faces different forces that work against him and his work. On social media platform Weibo, Qi’s fans can admire his art online, even if it has already disappeared from the streets.

Banned on Chinese TV: 'Western lifestyles,' cleavage and time travel (August 31, 2016, CNN)
New guidelines issued by China's top media regulator have prohibited TV shows that promote "Western lifestyles," adding to a long list of banned items. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, shows should refrain from content that expresses "overt admiration for Western lifestyles," jokes about Chinese traditions or defiles "classic materials."

Travel / Food

10 things Hangzhou does better than Shanghai (August 29, 2016, CNN)
The former capital of the Southern Song dynasty, Hangzhou is often referred to as Shanghai's backyard thanks to its location less than 180 kilometers southwest of the country's largest city. But don't be fooled into thinking this is just another Chinese urban center.

Las Vegas Bets on Chinese Tourism to Continue Its Winning Streak (August 30, 2016, Skift)
Sin City and Asian investors are going all in on Chinese tourism, as some of Las Vegas’ latest developments on and off the Strip target Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans.

Never the Noodles Shall Meet: A Chinese Treaty Is Tested (August 31, 2016, The New York Times)
Amid the modern skyscrapers of Shanghai, the parties to a time-honored treaty are at war. At stake are the spoils of a multibillion-dollar industry and a minority group’s ability to retain its customs in a fast-changing China. Also, noodles.

Books

Living The Taiping: Interview With James Lande (August 27, 2016, Isham Cook)
James Lande’s Yang Shen or The God from the West (Book 1), by contrast, thrusts us right into the action in 1860, the momentous year when the slaughter was at its peak, when the Taiping broke the siege of the Imperial troupes surrounding Nanking and began marching on Shanghai and British and French forces marched on Beijing and sacked the Summer Palace.

Book Review: The Mercenary Mandarin (August 30, 2016, Jottings from the Granite Studio)
The Mercenary Mandarin is more than just a well-written biography of a fascinating life; it’s also a panoramic look at the last half-century of Qing-dynasty China and an uplifting reminder that there are still big untold stories out there awaiting discovery.

A New Flying Tigers Memoir – Double Ace: The Life of Robert Lee Scott Jr., Pilot, Hero, and Teller of Tall Tales (August 31, 2016, China Rhyming)
Seriously, you can’t ever really get enough of the Flying Tigers and you know it!! And so a new biography from Robert Coram of Robert Lee Scott Jr., Double Ace.

Links for Researchers

WeChat: social and political development of China’s dominant messaging app (August 30, 2016, Taylor and Francis Online)
This article traces the development of the Chinese social media app WeChat from its origins to its current role as a leading communications tool for some 600 million Chinese citizens. It analyzes the ways the small-group oriented app is changing China’s social connections, as it enhances trusted, personal contacts while transforming opportunities for larger online group formation.